1. John Boulger, whose father was a mechanic for international solo star Merv Harding, started his racing career in 1965 racing scrambles as a sidecar passenger with friend Brenton Hanks before moving into speedway.
23 Facts About John Boulger
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John Boulger then got his break when he tagged along with leading Adelaide sidecar rider Len Bowes to the Northern Park Raceway in Melbourne.
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John Boulger quickly went from promising rookie to star rider within a couple of seasons, and would become the best South Australian rider of his generation, and regarded as one of the states best ever riders alongside Jack Young.
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John Boulger finished in third place at Rowley Park in 1972 behind Airey and Denmark's reigning World Champion Ole Olsen, and won his last title in 1973 at the Sydney Showground with a 15-point maximum, leaving defending champion and "King of the Royale" Airey languishing in 4th place.
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John Boulger then finished the 1974 championship at the 425 metres Brisbane Exhibition Ground in 2nd place behind local rider Steve Reinke to cap a four-year run where he never finished the Australian title off the podium.
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John Boulger won his first title in 1970 before winning a record seven in a row between 1972 and 1978, all held at Rowley Park Speedway.
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John Boulger narrowly missed equaling Young's record in 1981 when he finished second in the championship behind Tony Boyle at Speedway Park.
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John Boulger was undefeated in his first three rides, and was leading his fourth race when his front forks broke forcing him to crash and not finish the race.
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John Boulger won the inaugural Australasian Championship at the Western Springs Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand in 1976 defeating Billy Sanders, Phil Crump and multiple World Champion Ivan Mauger.
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John Boulger then went on to finish in a 3-way tie for first place in 1977 at the Sydney Showground with Mauger and Crump, before eventually finishing third after a runoff.
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John Boulger retired from riding in 1984 and decided to stay in speedway, first by teaching young riders the art of racing a Solo motorbike, with many of his protege's racing at the Sidewinders Junior Speedway in Adelaide which opened in 1978.
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John Boulger has been a long time supporter of Sidewinders and during the early-mid 1980s was a mentor to a number of younger riders including Steve Baker, Mark Fiora, Shane Parker, Craig Hodgson and Shane Bowes, the son of John Boulger's long time friend and the 1968 Australian Sidecar Champion Len Bowes.
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In 2011, John Boulger was inducted into the Australian Speedway Hall of Fame and on 29 November 2014, John Boulger was inducted into the Motorcycling South Australia Hall of Fame.
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John Boulger arrived in England in 1967 to ride for the Long Eaton Archers, scoring a paid 12 point maximum in just his third match.
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John Boulger was recommended to the Long Eaton management by British star Ray Wilson who had been on the lookout for Australian talent when he rode in Adelaide in 1967 and picked Boulger as a future star.
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John Boulger appeared in 33 league matches during 1967 for Long Eaton, finishing with a 5.95 points average.
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In 1968, Long Eaton management moved the team to Leicester, where they would become the Leicester Lions and John Boulger remained for six seasons, helping the Lions to second place in the 1971 British Speedway League and gradually improving his average to 9.46 by 1972.
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In 1974, John Boulger moved to ride for Cradley United where he remained until 1976 before returning to Leicester in 1977.
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John Boulger would remain with the Lions until 1979 when he retired from British League racing in order to spend more time with his family and on his business interests in Adelaide.
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John Boulger captained the victorious Australian team at the 1976 Speedway World Team Cup held at London's White City Stadium.
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John Boulger partnered Phil Crump in the 1974 World Pairs final at Hyde Road in Manchester, finishing in second place behind the Swedish pairing of Anders Michanek, and Soren Sjosten.
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John Boulger finished 13th with 6 points in 1973 at the Silesian Stadium in Chorzow, Poland, in front of the largest speedway attendance in history, an estimated 130,000.
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John Boulger rode in the 1977 World Final at the Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg, Sweden, where on a wet track he finished 12th with 5 points from his 5 rides.